]]>94Thu, 31 Jan 2019 09:39:07 +0000National Voters’ Day celebrated at around 6 lakh PS locations on 25th January; President of India lauds initiatives being taken up by Election Commission in preparation for the Lok Sabha Elections 2019https://ecisveep.nic.in/articles.html/new-initiative/national-voters%E2%80%99-day-celebrated-at-around-6-lakh-ps-locations-on-25th-january-president-of-india-lauds-initiatives-being-taken-up-by-election-commission-in-preparation-for-the-lok-sabha-elections-2019-r93/

The 9th National Voters’ Day (NVD) is celebrated across the country on 25th January 2019. The theme for NVD this year was ‘No Voter to be Left Behind’ reiterating the commitment of Election Commission of India (ECI) in view of the Lok Sabha elections due later this year.

Hon’ble President of India Sh. Ram Nath Kovind, while presiding over the National Function organized by ECI at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi hailed various interventions taken up by the Commission for conduct of free, fair and participative elections and particularly appreciated the initiatives for reaching out to voters in the remotest corner to enroll their names in the electoral roll and to encourage them to exercise the Right to Vote. Referring to his recent visit to Gir National Forest in Gujarat where he came know about set up of a polling station in the remote location that too for a single voter, Shri Kovind lauded the efforts of ECI to make every vote count in consonance with the theme of the year. He said that it speaks for the enlightenment of the framers of our Constitution that the Election Commission was set up as an independent and constitutional body at the very birth of the Republic of India. This reflects an immense regard and deep-rooted belief in democracy and the democratic spirit. Talking about the electoral process – beginning with the preparation of electoral rolls and concluding with the declaration of election results – he said it is difficult for an ordinary person to comprehend the complexity of the entire process. The President said that through all this, the credibility of Indian electoral system has continuously strengthened and Indian voters have a firm belief in the integrity, diligence, fairness and transparency of the election mechanism of the country.

Applauding winners of the National Awards the President asked them to keep contributing to conduct of free and fair elections. Congratulating the new voters who were handed over the EPIC on this occasion, he asked them to take informed decision while casting their vote and said that their decision will define the future of the country. He said voters and election commission are most crucial to democracy and they compliment each other and also appreciated various initiatives taken by the Commission under the SVEEP programme particularly mentioning the Electoral Literacy Club (ELC) Programme and the All Women Managed Polling Station initiative.

On receiving the inaugural issue of the new magazine of ECI he said that the magazine is most appropriately titled “My Vote Matters” and that every vote counts and counts equally in the formation of a government.

Speaking on the same occasion, Sh Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister, Law & Justice complimented ECI for the stellar role played by it for strengthening the Indian democracy. He lauded the courage, commitment and foresight shown by successive Commissions for conduct of free & fair elections and said that all should trust and believe the sanctity of the election process. Appreciating various initiatives of ECI for voter education and outreach he said voter education is integral to a good democracy.

Earlier while addressing the audience, Shri Sunil Arora, Chief Election Commissioner reiterated Commission’s commitment to make elections more and more inclusive, voter friendly, transparent and festive and shared the new initiatives being taken up for efficient and effective connect with the voters and for strengthening the elector confidence. He briefed the audience about the cVIGIL initiative that provides time stamped evidentiary proof of model code of conduct and expenditure violation by empowering every citizen to click a photo or video using Smartphone.

In his welcome address, Shri Ashok Lavas, Election Commissioner briefed the audience about the significance of the day, saying that on this day we celebrate liberty and maturing of young minds into responsible citizens and thanked all stakeholders including voluntary organisations for their support.

My Vote Matters, a quarterly bi-lingual magazine was launched at the function and the First Issue was presented by the Commission to the Hon’ble President of India. The new magazine hosts interesting and informative articles on many core subjects, new initiatives and topics of concurrent interest in elections, electoral processes and practices with the objective of developing a larger connect and interface with all the Stakeholders.

As part of the regular NVD activity of felicitating the newly eligible voter, 6 young voters from Delhi were handed over their EPIC by the Hon’ble President.

The National Awards for the Best Electoral Practices were conferred to Officers for outstanding performance in the conduct of elections. Special Awards were given to Departments and Officers from various departments for their contribution in smooth conduct of elections the general election to the Assemblies of 9 states in 2018. In addition, Awards were also given to CSOs and Media Houses who have made outstanding contribution in the field of voter awareness and outreach in these elections. (Brochure attached)

Chief Election Commissioners and senior officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Russia and Sri Lanka graced the occasion. Members of Political Parties, Members of Parliament besides Diplomats from various countries and representatives from national and international organizations working in the area of democracy and elections attended the national function and also visited the new campus of the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) at Dwarka, New Delhi.

]]>93Mon, 28 Jan 2019 06:44:01 +0000REACHING OUT TO THE PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDShttps://ecisveep.nic.in/articles.html/good-practices/reaching-out-to-the-people-with-special-needs-r92/]]>92Thu, 24 Jan 2019 10:00:36 +0000Workshop for Radio Jockeys on Voter Awarenesshttps://ecisveep.nic.in/articles.html/new-initiative/workshop-for-radio-jockeys-on-voter-awareness-r91/

Dissemination of fair and accurate information is the necessity that the Election Commission of India (ECI) holds being organiser of elections in a large democracy like India. The Commission has emphasized on involvement of all stakeholders especially media and radio being one of the important medium, of communication to connect the voters with the election machinery. For this purpose, the Commission, on 21st January 2019, organized an interactive workshop, at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, for the Radio Jockeys of All India Radio and the leading private Radio FMs of the Delhi NCR.

Radio jockeys from major FM channels viz. Big FM, Red FM, Fever 104 FM, Radio Nasha, Ishq FM and Radio City attended 2 hours interactive session, where they participated in activities for dissemination of voter education. The workshop was a part of the engagement taken up by the Commission with the major stakeholders. It was organized to familiarize the Radio Jockeys with the election process so that they can help in wide and accurate dissemination of information to their listeners.

RJs during their interaction with officials from the ECI

The workshop saw interactive and enthusiastic participation of the representatives.The session began with a brief introduction, followed by an activity ‘Build Your Ballot’, in which the participants built a Dummy ballot paper as part of an activity of Voter Awareness. Director, Ms. Padma Angmo interacted with the participants wherein they discussed their queries and assured to take forward the association with ECI on voter awareness in an organic manner. Her interaction was followed by a quiz, which conveyed basic information on voter awareness through interesting questions. Towards the end their suggestions were received and answered by the senior officers from the Commission during an open session.

The office of the C.E.O. Sikkim in its effort to spread voter awareness till the grass root level organised a sensitization programme for the leaders of ethnic communities of the State and the NGOs working for differently abled persons on 19.01.2019 at the Conference hall of the C.E.O. Office.

The main objective of conducting the programme was for disseminating correct information about election procedure and processes to different communities through their leaders so that there are no room for false information and rumours which generally engulfs the rural areas during the election time.

The C.E.O Sikkim, Shri R.Telang briefed the gathering about the following topics:

1.Voter helpline no 1950, NVSP, ECI voter helpline app- for widespread announcement of these applications as first point of care in finding his/her name in the E-roll, EPIC status and in connecting to the Election machinery and also registration of complaints against poll-related issues, without even having to comeout of the comfort of one’s house.

2.To check names of their prominent community members in the E -Roll so that thenonappearance of such personalities in the roll does not convey a wrong impression of the E- Roll to the rest of the public.

3.EVM & VVPAT- the gathering was introduced to these machines and also informed that if they request the C.E.O office to set up the demonstration centres of these machines during their festivals and programmes which are not political in nature, the Office would gladly do so.

4.Ethical voting - the C.E.O appealed the leaders of ethnic communities to use their good office in promoting ethics of responsible voters, free of any inducement and going beyond narrow considerations.

The C.E.O further appealed the community leaders and the Civil Society Organisations for their participation in the upcoming National Voters Day Celebration, so that the theme of the NVD, 2019 “no voter to be left behind” reflects in true sense by participation of various communities and specially the PWDs.

]]>90Mon, 21 Jan 2019 10:56:40 +0000CLEAN SVEEP - Gujarat Bi-monthly Magazinehttps://ecisveep.nic.in/articles.html/new-initiative/clean-sveep-gujarat-bi-monthly-magazine-r89/
A unique initiative by Gujarat a bi-monthly magazine named "Clean SVEEP". Unique SVEEP activities carried out at State as well as District Level are included in this magazine.

On the occasion of National Consultation on Accessible Elections organised on July 3rd & 4th July, 2018, an exhibition was setup by Election Commission of India showcasing the journey of elections in India, the largest democracy in the world. The Exhibition was inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat and Election Commissioners Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa, marking the beginning of the proceedings.

The exhibition comprised two sections:

1. Unfolding Indian Elections: India has been able to uphold its democracy, through the ebb and flow of the political and security challenges. Proving its detractors wrong, the country has survived the crisis that befell on many Asian and African nations in post-colonial era. A large measure of credit goes to the free and fair elections. They have reflected people’s will and provided for seamless transition of power at the Centre and States.

A Model Polling Booth was set-up during the two days National Consultation on Accessible Elections. The Consultation saw the participation of more than 50 Civil Society Organizations and all the Chief Electoral Officers of States/UTs besides members of National Political Parties and Ministries, Government of India and media. The motive of the Model Polling Booth was to familiarise the stakeholders with the process of voting and related aspects. Persons with Disabilities were motivated to take up the Mock Poll and provide the feedback which was further incorporated in the recommendations.

The National Consultation on Accessible Elections was the culmination of more than 3month long series of District-Level and State-Level Workshops undertaken as a part of ECI’s theme for 2018- Accessible Elections, to identify barriers in the inclusion of PwDs in the electoral process, assess the present accessibility policies in place and put forward recommendations for addressing barriers to enhance the participation of the differently-abled.

A major component of the ELCs programme in its execution phase was the training of ELC conveners. Considering the sheer magnitude of the numbers the project is dealing with, devising a training program itself proved to be a challenge. Finally, a system of cascaded training was adopted.

ELC Workshops for training SLMTs

Workshops were conducted for State Level Master Trainers from the 36 states and union territories of the country in four batches of 40-50 participants each, in February-March 2018.

Considering the activity based engagement approach that formed the basis of the ELC project, and the resources developed, the training was also planned in an activity based manner to engage the trainers rather than following a lecture based format. The vibrant workshop witnessed enthusiastic State Level Master Trainers, who were identified by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of every State, trying out the learning tools themselves and engaging in the various activities. These State Level Master Trainers now hold the responsibility of further training District Level Master Trainers, identified by the District Election Officers, who will then train the specific ELC conveners falling in their respective districts.

ELC Training of SVEEP Nodal Officers

On 13th April 2018, the SVEEP Nodal Officers of all States and UTs were invited to ECI headquarters at New Delhi, for a daylong meeting to discuss the preparedness for the Electoral Literacy Clubs project.

The second half of this meeting was centered around acquainting all SVEEP Nodal Officers with the various activities prepared for ELCs wherein the SNOs, who were part of one or the other training workshops, took the lead. The 35 Nodal Officers were divided into 5 groups and allotted 2-3 activities each. After one hour, each group made a presentation to the remaining SNOs on their activities, thus familiarizing all in the process.

ELC Workshop for training CSOs

A final leg of trainings was conducted under the ELC project on the 23rd and 24th of May, 2018 at USI, New Delhi. However, this training workshop was different from others as its participants were not members of the election machinery, but in fact members of various Civil Society Organizations from across the nation.

The workshop observed the participation of 43 participants from 23 States and Union Territories. The participants were mostly associated with CSOs who have previously partnered with the Commission or CEOs for voter awareness campaigns. These CSOs covered issues related to Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), rural poor, poverty alleviation, education and literacy etc. The idea now is, that CSOs will take forward the initiative of imparting electoral literacy through games and activities within their respective organizations as well as the communities they work with.

Studies suggest that participation in the first one or two elections of an elector’s lifetime helps to inculcate the habit of voting and makes participation in future elections more likely. The importance of developing the practice of citizenship development for electoral participation is vital to investment in the future of democracy. It is necessary to focus on the younger generation for civic education leading to robust electoral participation. Keeping this rationale in view, the Election Commission of India (ECI) took a landmark step towards the cause of electoral literacy with its initiative - ‘Mainstreaming of Electoral Literacy through Educational Institutions, Organizations and Communities in India’, under its Systematic Voters’ Education & Electoral Participation (SVEEP) Programme.

The entire project revolves around keeping voter education relevant and practical through a host of curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular methods for the young (18-21 years) and future (14-17 years) voters. This year, ECI committed its efforts towards the inclusion of electoral literacy through the medium of Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) in educational institutions, organisations as well as in rural communities via Chunav Pathshalas.

A total of seven comprehensive resource guides have been created for the ELCs programme. These are -

ELC shall be for each Class and Section. While the Electoral Literacy Clubs for each school grade will be different and consist of a set of activities unique to that particular grade, the activities for different Sections at each grade shall remain the same. The ELC shall conduct activity class wise in a scheduled class/session. One or two teachers from the Humanities Department of the School will act as the Nodal Officers and mentors of the ELC. There would be a teacher for each class who will conduct the ELC activity. Alternately, there may be a group of teachers who may conduct the ELCs of various classes. The training of the teachers shall be taken up by the Nodal Officer. The teachers shall be guided by the Nodal Officer in the conduct of the ELC activities. A balance between Senior secondary schools within every state and district will be identified by the office of the District Election Officer (DEO), schools are being covered under phases.

ELCs and PwDs

The ELCs have been envisioned as inclusive clubs that must make every attempt to ensure the participation of students with disabilities. To ensure this, every ELC shall follow the following guidelines –

The Convener shall make efforts to promote inclusion and sensitize members about the same.

It should be tried to ensure that the venue for ELC activity is easily accessible.

If a student with hearing impairment is attending the meeting, a sign language interpreter should be made available for their convenience (the interpreter can be a companion that the student already has).

Any activity conducted in the club should not leave behind students with disabilities.

Going Online: ELC Resources on SVEEP Portal

The Election Commission of India has developed a new portal for SVEEP where all tools and instructions regarding ELCs can be easily accessed by the Master Trainers (MTs) and the portal provides a discussion forum to the ELC MTs. The portal will also serve as a mechanism for collecting feedback, for reviewing the resource tools and updating them.

A tool for trainings: the ELC Documentary

For the purpose of being used as a visual aid in the cascade training strategy, ECI is also preparing a documentary on ELCs which is essentially a collection of major activities under the project, shot and assembled in the format of tutorials.

The documentary is being produced in Hindi as well as in English along with captions for the convenience of persons with hearing disabilities.

Assessment by National Law University

ELC is indeed one of the most ambitious and challenging projects of the ECI. Well begun is half done, and a good beginning has already been made. An independent evaluation of the project has also been sanctioned by the Commission and evaluation shall be simultaneously carried out so that necessary corrections can be made for successful achievement of the objectives. Research scholars from NLU are on board with ECI for conducting an evaluation and impact assessment research on the effectiveness of the ELC programme. NLU has planned out its research methodology and timelines. It is currently preparing tools for carrying out the research.